The Oppressive Ideologies In Brave New World
In World War 2, Adolf Hitler murdered over 6 million people in concentration camps based on his ideology that they were inferior. People went along with his ideas because they were afraid and it was easier to follow the crowd rather than speak out. It is the same in Brave New World, only people are conditioned rather than afraid. Ideologies in the Brave New World society exist to condition the citizens thoughts and actions with a classist system and controlling ideologies. The society in Brave New World is based upon governmental control of everything. Brave New World shows how the ideologies of freedom, the caste system, and obedience negatively affect society.
The first ideology is freedom. Citizens are denied the freedom of choosing their station in life and are instead assigned one upon birth. They are not given the freedom of having a spouse or even having children. This is shown when the Alphas said "Well, then they were the parents—I mean, not the babies, of course; the other ones." The poor boy was overwhelmed with confusion" (Huxley 34). The boy has been conditioned to not even have a thought about the things that are foreign to him and discontinued in their society. The government benefits from the loss of freedom because they gain control from it. The citizens do not even know that they lack freedom because they are conditioned to like the place they are put in and be happy that they are where they are. In the end, the citizens end up suffering because of the lack of freedom of choice, even if they are not aware of it. The lack of freedom serves the social agenda of a content society.
The second ideology is the caste system. It is used to keep control over society and provide social stability. The society both benefits and suffers from it. It provides social stability. But citizens are forced in the life they are born into and do not have a choice about it. Even the Alphas, the highest class of that society, are constrained by their class. This is shown when Mustapha Mond tells the story of how he almost left society. He ended his story with saying, "That's how I paid. By choosing to serve happiness. Other people's—not mine." (Huxley 239). Mustapha Mond gave up his freedom of living without the caste system and being able to experiment with science; instead he stayed in society and help ensure social stability. The society abolishes choice with the caste system in exchange for social stability and happiness. The caste system serves the social agenda of providing a stable society with everyone being happy and having a job.
The third ideology is obedience. Children are raised to follow societal norms without question. They do not have opinions or independent thoughts of their own. The government benefits most from its citizens obedience because it is able to control them through that. However, the citizens are suffering because they are conditioned to blind obedience and believe what they government tells them to believe. This is shown when Bernard cries, "Oh, please don't send me to Iceland. I promise I'll do what I ought to do" (Huxley 236). Bernard dislikes the thought of exile because he was taught that it is a horrible place, even though he took pride in not totally conforming to his society. The citizens of his society do not stop to think about how they act or the things that they say. Obedience serves the social and political agenda because the citizens will not protest about how their society is structured.
In Brave New World, society is based upon various ideologies that serve to control the citizens. It allows the government to mandate what people do and even think, according to their ideologies of societal norms. People go along with the society because it is what is easiest, instead of challenging the ideals of that society.
Works Cited
Aldous Huxley. Brave New World, Bookshare, 1946
